NEWSROOM

SOFORT Banking enlarges footprint in Austrian eCommerce Market

Wednesday, November 06 2013

VIENNA | Sofort AG, the provider of the innovative payment system SOFORT Banking, and the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group (RBG) enter into a strategic partnership enabling RBG's Austrian customers a fast and secure payment method on the internet.

Competitive position

The Raiffeisen Banking Group is already the market leader for online banking in Austria, with over 40 % market share, more than 1.4 million customers, and 32.4 million transactions per year. SOFORT AG benefits from the strong partner, significantly promoting internationalisation: "The Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group is the ideal partner for us, as its strong market position supports us to continue further growth and to strengthen our competitive position as a European company with regard to the US providers of payment systems on the Internet.

"As our payment method works using the online banking of the banks, we have a decisive interest in strengthening the customer relations between the end customers and their banks. The more a customer uses online banking to make a payment on the internet, the more stable this relation becomes", says Gerrit Seidel, CEO, SOFORT AG. With this cooperation, RBG complements its own online banking portfolio. The bank customers are provided with an alternative possibility to make payments across borders and currencies using their Raiffeisen bank accounts.

Payment Method SOFORT Banking

As soon as the customer selects SOFORT Banking as a payment method when shopping online, the order data is automatically transferred. After selecting the bank, the customer only has to enter the personal online banking details before the transfer is executed by means of a confirmation code as usual. The data is then transmitted to the account in an encrypted form. The online merchant receives a real-time confirmation of the successfully completed payment and can ship the goods immediately.

Simplification of Cross-Border Payments

"This system contributes to the closer integration of the European internal market and to the simplification of cross-border payments. It is therefore another attractive payment method for online shopping", explains Stefan Sandberger, head of the expert team payment transactions/accounts/cards of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, describing the benefits of such payment systems.

Direct Transfer System

SOFORT Banking is becoming more and more important in the eCommerce business, increasingly replacing traditional payment methods such as payment in advance. SOFORT Banking users can rely on the high level of security the direct transfer system ensures for the transaction processing. SOFORT AG possesses the TÜV certificates "Approved payment system" and "Approved data protection" and is being audited by TÜV on a regular basis.

Sofort Banking already available in 10 countries

Currently, more than two million SOFORT Banking transactions are carried out in over 25.000 eCommerce shops every month. This makes the payment method one of the most popular payment methods in online shops. The payment method by SOFORT AG is already available in ten countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Poland).

About the Raiffeisen Banking Group

The Raiffeisen Banking Group operates Austria's largest banking network and is the local leader in market shares regarding business with both private and corporate customers. It employs 30,000 people and services 2.8 million customers. For further information, please contact Andreas Ecker-Nakamura (+43-1-26216-2222, andreas.ecker@rzb.at) or Gregor Bitschnau (+43-1-26216-1955, gregor.bitschnau@rzb.at).

About SOFORT AG

SOFORT AG, based in Gauting near Munich, offers innovative products for the secure purchase of goods and digital products on the Internet, such as the payment system SOFORT Banking and the online authentication system SOFORT Ident. The payment system SOFORT Banking has made the company market leader for direct payment methods in Germany. Currently, more than 25.000 eCommerce shops process over two million transactions a month with SOFORT Banking. Apart from Germany, the service is also available in Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Spain, and Poland. Sofort AG website